This is a thread to list all US Blu-ray players and whether they are compatible with 50Hz Blu-ray content (eg. 50i/50p). Usually this means 1080/50i, which could contain either 50i interlaced content or 25p progressive content.

So interlaced video runs at 25 fps in Europe? How do they get film at 24 fps to transfer? I know for interlacing in the US they transmit two fields (odd/even lines) at 30 fps which gives 60 fields/sec for interlaced transmission. Then they use a trick called 3:2 pulldown which adds an extra field every other frame so that 2 frames generate 5 fields. This gives (24/2) * 5 = 60 fields/sec so 24 fps film transfers to 60 fields/sec for interlaced video. I can't see how the math works for Europe. I'm HT noobish at this point but I love tech stuff, so fill me in...?

So interlaced video runs at 25 fps in Europe? How do they get film at 24 fps to transfer? I know for interlacing in the US they transmit two fields (odd/even lines) at 30 fps which gives 60 fields/sec for interlaced transmission. Then they use a trick called 3:2 pulldown which adds an extra field every frame so that 2 frames generate 5 fields. This gives (24/2) * 5 = 60 fields/sec so 24 fps film transfers to 60 fields/sec for interlaced video. I can't see how the math works for Europe. I'm HT noobish at this point but I love tech stuff, so fill me in...?

I think they only do Speed Up from 24 to 25. That's why the sound is a little bit faster on PAL DVD's and PAL VHS (and LD). That's also why runtime are often 'lesser' than US on home video. Altought most of the HD stuff in 1080i/50hz are either Shows and Tv Shows that have been shot natively like this. They are movies like REC with was shot in 1080i/50hz nativelity also..

that's also why European laughed at us for so many year because we had additionnal stutter in our movies that their didn't had, basically they speed up to 25 than 2:2 to 50hz...

Wow, that is a 'bit' easier Yeah I was just reading about the stutter in films that we don't even notice and have become accustomed to, like the backward rotation of car wheels caused by strobing between the frame rate and wheel's rotation rate. Never would have figured that one out lol.

This is a thread to list all US Blu-ray players and whether they are compatible with 50hz Blu-ray content (eg. 25p/50i/50p). Usually this means 1080/50i, which could contain either 50i interlaced content or 25p progressive content.

Note: You might need a 50hz compatible display to play back 50hz content with some of the above US players, though some of them convert the content to another frame rate (eg. 60hz).
US Blu-ray Players NOT compatible with 50hz content:

Does the 50hz to 60hz conversion for Samsung players only apply to those sold in Region B or does it apply to Region A (specifically the U.S.) as well?

Second, is there a list/link for U.S. Blu-ray players that reliably play multi/no region Blu-ray discs without trouble? (For example, it's my understanding that the PS3 refuses to read any disc with PAL content even if the film itself is region-free 1080P.)

It would be great if this list was actively maintained and made a sticky. There are many European imports that are region-free that do not play in the U.S. on most players because of the decision to leave the video in 1080i/50 Hz format.

It would be great if this list was actively maintained and made a sticky. There are many European imports that are region-free that do not play in the U.S. on most players because of the decision to leave the video in 1080i/50 Hz format.

I try to actively maintain it . As soon as I see someone's posts here about a US BD player that does or doesn't work with 50hz, or posts an update/correction I update the list. If I read about about another US player working/not working with 50hz in another thread/somewhere else on the web I will update the list.

edit: Though it looks like I missed a few posts above. Sorry about that. I will add those to the list.

Does the 50hz to 60hz conversion for Samsung players only apply to those sold in Region B or does it apply to Region A (specifically the U.S.) as well?

Thanks in advance for the info.

The European Samsung Blu-ray players output content at whatever rate they are encoded at. eg. 50hz content gets output at 50hz, 60hz content gets output at 60hz, 24hz content gets output at 24hz if you have 24hz output enabled in the player (for if you have a 24p compatible TV).

The US Samsung players do the same as the above except for any 50hz content on the Blu-ray disc, they output it in 60hz instead of 50hz.

Quote:

Second, is there a list/link for U.S. Blu-ray players that reliably play multi/no region Blu-ray discs without trouble? (For example, it's my understanding that the PS3 refuses to read any disc with PAL content even if the film itself is region-free 1080P.)

I don't know of a list of multi-region US players that would play a disc coded only for regions other than A.

But this list is for the "PAL" (ie. 50Hz) content.

The US PS3 (and other players listed in the "don't work" section of the list above) won't play discs encoded as region free (eg. ABC) but are at 50hz. But PS3s using the most recent firmware are supposed to be able to skip 50hz content so that you should be able to play the 24p content if there is any on the disc. Though this doesn't help the people who want to watch the 50hz Blu-ray content, particularly if the entire disc is encoded at 50hz (which is the correct rate for a lot of European content).

People with US PS3s (or other Sony players) who want to watch region free discs released in Europe (or other places where 50hz is used) or stuff shot at the correct speed, could ask Sony to release a firmware update to support it (especially since it is part of the Blu-ray spec). Same thing for Panasonic. Then practically all Blu-ray players should be compatible.

Anyway around the PS3 limitation? Got ANtichrist BUT ONLY the Trailers are in PAL 50. ANy way to start it so it automatically goes to the main menu?

Do you have PS3 firmware version 3.0 or higher? If not try updating to the latest firmware. According to Penton-Man, the PS3 firmware version 3.0 skips any 50hz content (though this won't help for discs that are correctly encoded entirely 50hz, or if you wanted to watch any of the 50hz content on a disc that also had 24p content.).

So, bit of help needed. I'm in the US and have a US PS3 as my Blu-ray player. I'm a fan of UK TV shows and recently bought the recently released (Dec. 7) Gavin & Stacey Complete Series box set on Blu-ray.

Now, I know that the US PS3 won't play 50hz content. When I stick one of the discs in all that comes up is a blank screen. No message that it's region-locked, etc. Does that mean the disc is 50hz and can't be played on the PS3? Should I look into getting a standalone Samsung player? Or could it be that this release is actually region-locked and therefore I just flushed some money down the drain and I should stop before I go out and buy a standalone player thus flushing some more down the drain. Help would be much appreciated. Thank you!